Unhealthy Teens Face College and Job Obstacles

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Being in poor health as a teenager can have a long-term influence
on someone's educational and job opportunities in adulthood, a
new review suggests.

Researchers found that teens
with either mental health or chronic physical health
conditions were less likely to graduate high school or finish
college, and were more likely to be unemployed or have
lower-income jobs as adults compared with healthy teens.

The analysis also showed that teens with mental health problems
fared worse than those with
physical health issues in terms of economic and academic
outcomes as young adults.

"Mental health conditions may be more detrimental than physical
health conditions, because they are linked with social isolation
and exclusion, which are both linked with poor employment and
education outcomes," said Daniel Hale, co-author of the study and
a research associate in children's health policy at University
College London.

Another reason for mental health's greater impact on a teen's
school and work achievements may be that it is tied to behavioral
issues, such as misbehavior in the classroom, truancy and
substance use, said Hale, who conducted the study along with his
colleague Leonardo Bevilacqua, a research assistant at the
university. [ 10
Facts Every Parent Should Know About Their Teen's Brain ]

For example, the analysis found that teens with mental health
conditions were more than twice as likely to not complete high
school compared with healthy teens.

In the review, published online today (June 22) in the journal
Pediatrics, the researchers analyzed data from 27 previous
studies of young people, ages 11 to 18. The studies followed the
teens over time into adulthood, up to their 20s or mid-30s.

Eighteen of the studies looked at mental health conditions in
teens, such as major depression, attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and behavioral problems, and
their association with occupational and educational outcomes as
adults. The rest of the studies examined the effects of teens'
physical health problems, such as juvenile arthritis.

"We identified substantially less evidence regarding physical
health conditions in teens, so it is difficult to draw firm
conclusions about its relative impact," Hale told Live Science.

He said the research team is currently investigating the reasons
why poor health in young people disrupts their educational and
employment pathways, and which specific mental health conditions
are associated with these negative outcomes. The researchers are
also looking for the reasons behind the worse outcomes, such as
absences from school due to illness, social exclusion, truancy
from school, substance use and poor conduct in the classroom.

"The findings show that good health is extremely important for
maximizing a young person's chances of having good educational
and employment outcomes," Hale said.

For teens, having poor health can create a vicious cycle in which
their health problems contribute to poor educational and
attainment outcomes, and in turn, these two factors may further
contribute to
stress and poor health.

The results also suggest that schools should think of their
students' health as part of the institution's core business, Hale
said.

He said that schools can help struggling young people with good,
school-based health services and health education that support
students with health conditions, and communicates well with their
parents.

These activities don't detract from a teen's typical academic
learning, Hale said. Rather, "they actively support young
people's educational attainment, and in turn, their employment
opportunities."